Secrets Behind the Mask UKPH
by TheShortySwag
Summary: It's Maria's 3rd week in World Academy! But an unfortunate event made her the Student Council President's lackey, and what's more... she discovers a BIG SECRET about the president. What more events is in stored for Maria? UKPH
1. Chapter 1

**Maria's POV**

"Oh, this is NOT good."

I was already tired from my kilometer run from the girl's dormitory toward the main school building when I realized, that some of the Student Council body is already roaming around the campus to see if anyone got late, so immediate punishment would be given.  
>And to me, it was a VERY unlucky day.<p>

I was sleeping soundly in my room when I didn't realize it was already 7:50am (classes start at 8am), until I fell on the floor, my face landing first.

"OW!" I gently rubbed my nose to see it was swollen. Good thing it wasn't.  
>Half-asleep, I checked on the time on the clock, "HOLY CRAP." I mumbled. I rushed downstairs, to see everyone has already left for school. And I knew it deep inside, I was in DEEP trouble.<p>

"I definitely shouldn't get captured, or else!" I thought to myself. I mean, if I will get caught, that means I'll be punished. And who knows what punishment waits for me. Especially since the student council president is pretty infamous for his bad temper.  
>I made my way without being seen, or noticed. I hid in the bushes and near the trees. At last, I was just 2 yards away from the main school building…<p>

"HEY YOU THERE!"

"CRAP! I gotta run!"

I ran at the other direction, while he was still chasing after me. I took a chance to take a peek behind me to see if he was still on my tracks; and HE WAS! I ran faster despite my legs going numb from my constant running just a few minutes ago. Now, he was catching up with me! "ARRRRGGHHH! Stop chasing me for heaven's sake!" This guy surely has some stamina for this kind of run. I wonder if he's in the Track and Field club... In any case, my legs are really about to give in!

I've had enough. Punishment or no punishment, I GIVE UP! I'm SERIOUSLY tired now.  
>I stopped in my tracks and turned to face this guy that was chasing me. As he got a little closer, I began to realize, the guy who's been chasing me all around.<p>

The Student Council President, Arthur Kirkland.

"Damn it woman, you can really run, huh?" he was panting and was out of breath when he finally reached me.

His thick British accent echoed through my ears. And it's hardly understandable. Really.

"Now, as for your punishment for being late AND running away," he stood straight up then fixed his uniform. "What a neat freak." I thought to myself.

Suddenly, he glared at me as if he read my thoughts.  
>But now that we've actually met eye to eye, I just realized that his eyes were deep green… no, more like emeralds shining under the sun. They were beautiful.<p>

"What's your name and class?" he asked. He pulled out a small notebook and a pen from his pockets and began scribbling stuffs.

"Come on. Spit it out. Both of us will get in trouble for our lateness if we don't get this thing over with." He spat.

He was clearly irritated and troubled at the same time. I just sighed. I know we'll be a lot late than we should be if I won't tell him.

"Maria Clara Carriedo Dela Cruz. I'm from the South East Asia of Asia class." I muttered.

Suddenly, he gave me this 'WHAT?' look.

"C-could you repeat the first part?"

I looked at him funny. What? So he didn't get to write down my name? Stupid. I chuckled at this realization.

"S-stop that! Just repeat the first sentence you said..." his voice suddenly became soft. "… i-if that was a sentence…" he continued. He said it with a soft voice, but enough for me to hear.

I just laughed. He stared at me, his cheeks blushing up.

"My name's Maria Clara Carriedo Dela Cruz."

"Oh, and that wasn't a sentence. It's my name." I added up.

He looked at me for a second, and then started scribbling down on his notebook.  
>"Okay then. You're free to go." He closed his notebook, turn his back from me, then started walking toward the other direction.<p>

I just looked at him funny. That's it? And I thought I'll be punished and do labor works.

I just shrugged. Guess not.

**GEOMETRY CLASS**

"SIGGGHH!"

"Hey, you don't 'sigh' mouthing out the words." Lien (Vietnam), my roommate corrected me unconditionally.

"But this class is boring." I pouted.

"Also, why didn't you wake me up earlier? I ran late, you know." I pointed out.

"Err… well. I got a bit busy and forgot. SO SORRY!" she bowed her head down.

I looked at her suspicious. "Hmm. And because of that, I unfortunately met the infamous Student Council President."

"You met Arthur?"

"Well, briefly though." I chuckled. Lien looked at me funny.

"What? Well, one thing's for sure, he's somewhat interesting, though." I recalled the moments I had with him earlier that morning. And those emerald eyes of his…. It just kept on coming back to me. As if it was already recorded on my mind or something.

But something about those eyes of his is somewhat familiar. Vaguely familiar.

Mei (Taiwan) giggled. I shot her a 'WHAT' look.

"Oh right, hey, Maria. You know, RAVEN has a concert later on in the city." Mei whispered out for only me to hear.

Those words made my clouding boredom go away. "ARE YOU SERIOUS?" I shouted at her loud enough for the whole class to hear.

"What's Ms. Mei so serious about, Ms. Maria?" Mr. Beilschimdt (Germania) looked at our direction with his icy, cold blue eyes.

"Uhhh.. A-about your class! I mean, why she is so serious about uhh…" I was mumbling useless stuffs now.

**RIIIIIING!**

I sighed BIG for relief. The bell saved me. Thank goodness!

"Okay. That's it for now, class." Mr. Beilschimdt packed up his things. As he was about to leave the classroom, he gave me an icy glare. "Ms. Maria, I'd like to speak with you, please."

That's it. I'm doomed.

"Y-Yes sir." I muttered.

Mei gave me two thumbs up, while Lien just simple gave me a sympathetic smile. Wow. Thanks guys. Really. THANKS.

Mr. Beilschmidt and I were in the hallway, when the other students were now roaming the corridor being carefree as usual, and not minding that there was a teacher around. Unfortunately, Mr. Beilschmidt's attention was focused mainly one ME.

"Err.. so… uhhh…" I muttered, trying to break the slowly building up silence that was covering the both of us.

"What was it, Ms. Dela Cruz?" he asked firmly.

"Huh?" I stupidly reacted. "Of course he was talking about the earlier ruckus you made, you idiot!" I mentally slapped myself.

Suddenly, a loud SCREEECH was heard all throughout the hallway.

_**"ATTENTION. ATTENTION. This is your Student Council President speaking. I would like to have a word with Ms. –uhh…"**_

This guy was obviously stuttering behind the microphone.

_**"-Miss Maria Clara Carriedo… Dela Cruz. Please proceed to the Student Council room immediately. And by that, I mean, RIGHT NOW. You hear me? Thank you."**_

The screeching of the microphone disappeared.  
>"Hmm. I guess Mr. Kirkland's looking for you, Ms. Maria. But-" I cut him short.<br>"Y-yeah! I guess he is. So I gotta go now. Bye, Mr. Beilschmidt!" I hurried towards the other direction and ran as fast as I could. I don't want to get cornered like that again with that creepy teacher. Seriously creepy.

"Crap. So he's still going to give me punishments? But I guess it's a lot better than to stay there with a creepy teacher staring at you as if he could see through your soul…" I thought as I walked hastily to get away from Mr. Beilschmidt.

So, I made my way through the other building, where the European classes are held and where the student council room is located.

Since it was my first time entering the building, I was amazed. VERY amazed. The building was just so classy and flamboyant-looking compared to our building.

Then I realized, people were staring at me, as if I was some kind of weirdo. Some were even chuckling and giggling at the same time while looking at me.

'What? Is there something on my face?' I thought.  
>I walked around the building, looking for the student council room since I have no idea where it really is located around here. I was just informed it was located inside the European building, and nothing more other than that.<p>

After minutes of searching, I wasn't still able to find the stupid student council room. "This is tiring! I can't believe I'm also ACTUALLY going to THAT guy.." I thought.

"Hey there~ I believe you're lost."

I turned around to see who it was. But before I did, his hands were already crawling their way on my waist!

SMACK!

"Ow! Mon Cherie, that was totally uncalled for!" his French accent echoed all throughout the hallway. Tsk. You deserved that, you pervert!

"Y-you! How dare you!" I screamed at him. This guy's totally insane!  
>"But I'm just here to help you, mon amour."<p>

"Oh, get your filthy hands off her, Francis." A female voice said.

I looked behind this 'Francis' and saw a brunette haired girl. Her emerald eyes were astounding. It quickly reminded me of Arthur's emerald eyes. They were the same.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"H-huh? Uhh.. Yes." I stuttered. She was like a human goddess. She was certainly beautiful.

She flashed me a smile. "Thank goodness. Who knows what THIS guy might do to someone as frail as you." She walked closer to me and held my hands.

"Say, let's be friends."

HUUUUH?

I just looked at her astounded.

"I'm Elizaveta Hedervary." She introduced herself.

HUUUUUUUUH?

"I-I… I'm M-Maria Clara Carriedo Dela Cruz.. P-Pleased to meet you." I was really out of words. I mean, this beautiful girl wants to befriend someone like me? Seriously?

She smiled again. "I'll call you Maria, is that okay?"

I nodded.

"Ohh~! I'm Francis Bonnefoy. Pleased to meet you, Maria, mon Cherie." The blond-haired 'Francis' guy introduced himself.

"Let's be good friends, oui?~ " he stretched out his hand to me. Subconsciously, I did the same.

Suddenly, Elizaveta glared daggers at Francis; which he didn't seem to bother.

"Well then, what brings a cute Asian girl like you here?" she asked.

Finally, I got my composure back. I was feeling like myself once again. My, if I continued to act like an idiot back there, that would've been embarrassing.

"Oh. Uhh… Do you know where the student council room is?" I asked.

"Ah~! So you're the girl Iggy's been talking about." Francis cheerfully pointed out.

"She's the girl? Oh my." Elizaveta pouted.

Huh? What are they talking about?

"Err.. What do you mean…?" I asked.

"Come on, you'll know when we get there..." she was still sulking. I wonder what the problem is.

After several minutes of walking, we finally arrived in front of a huge marble door. It was really huge.

"Here we are." Elizaveta smiled, feeling successful.

"Is this the Student Council Room?"

"Oui, mon Cherie." Francis spoke in French. Gosh. There he is again with his stupid French tongue. And to top it all, I don't even know what he's saying!

Elizaveta and Francis opened the door in front of me revealing a spacious room. It was a huge room, but there wasn't much furniture or decoration inside. I'd say it's pretty boring with only a huge wooden table at the center, two chairs and one coffee table. Wow. Cheapskate much?

And there he was, standing alone looking straight at our direction with irritation.

"You're LATE!" he shouted.

"Hey, don't yell, Arthur! She was just lost." Elizaveta defended.

I gave her a 'Thank You' look. She smiled.

"Well, in any case, now that you're here," He stood up from where he was sitting at and walked towards our direction.

He was now right in front of me, smirking. Seriously, he can be so creepy. He reminds me Mr. Beilschmidt.

"Your punishment is about to begin."

Say WHAT? I thought I was off the hook already!

"Punishment?" I reacted.

"Since you ran late, of course you have punishment for that. We don't take no for an answer. It's either you do our punishment, or you'll still be punished." He laughed evilly.

Elizaveta and Francis just sweat dropped. "So in other words, I'm still going to be punished either way?" I mumbled. He stopped laughing. "Err.. Pretty much." He answered.  
>I just sighed. "Fine. So, what's this 'punishment'?" I asked.<p>

"Be our lackey."  
>"Excuse me?"<br>"For 2 weeks, you will be the student council's lackey." He explained.  
>"You've got to be kidding me!"<br>"No. He's pretty serious, Maria." Elizaveta smiled apologetically.  
>"Oh~! This is favorable for me, mon cherie~ "<p>

Arthur and Elizaveta glared daggers at the French, but then again, he didn't seem bothered by it.

"With the exception of what you're thinking, you perverted frog." Arthur added.  
>"Ne soyez pas si avare, Arthur!" Francis spoke once again on his native tongue.<br>"Stop using your French language on me, you wine bastard!"

Elizaveta moved closer to me. "He practically owns the place, Maria. So I suggest to just go along with his demands. It's just 2 weeks, and I promise, I will go easy on you." She whispered to me.

"Whaaat? B-but… that would mean all the hard work befalls on me. I'm sure of it." I mumbled.

"Don't worry about that. You're not the only one. Since, there are only 4 of us in the student council body, he got this crazy idea of giving out 'lackey' punishments to those who misbehave and ran late during and after school hours." She explained.  
>That explains it.<p>

"Wait, so you mean there are only 4 members of the Student council body?" I asked, since I just got here 2 weeks ago, I have no idea who makes up the student council body.

"Yes. There are only four of us. I'm the president, this leech is the vice president, Elizaveta is the treasurer and-"before Arthur could continue his explanation, the fragile-looking marble door unexpectedly opened up.

"YO! I'm here. So what's for lunch?"

There was a sudden silence when this blond-haired man came into the room. But, Arthur was the one who broke the silence first.

"You git! Don't just enter like that! You nearly gave me a heart attack!" he shouted.

"Oh, Iggy! Don't be so angry at this time of the day. So, what's for lunch?" the blond  
>innocently defended himself.<p>

"Why are you asking me that! I don't know!"

"Pourquoi êtes-vous lui demander? Il Suce à cuisine!" Francis muttered.

"Oh shut up, you frog! You and your stupid Frenchie language!" Arthur spat in irritation.

Elizaveta just sighed. "Gosh. Why am I part of this idiotic student council body again?" she mumbled to herself.

"Well, anyways, Maria. That four-eyes is our secretary, Alfred F. Jones. Although he doesn't really do his job well, he's still our secretary."

"Oh." I mumbled.

"Okay then! Now that's all fixed up, shall we head to the cafeteria then?" Elizaveta puts up her friendly smile, but was immediately washed away since the other 3 guys were already getting on her nerves.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, she pulls out a frying pan and smacked the hell out of the three other guys.

"Hmp! Again with this idiocy! You guys are really getting on my nerves nowadays." Elizaveta glared daggers at the three guys, which made them flinch a little.

"E-Elizaveta's pretty scary when she's mad, huh?" Arthur mumbled.  
>"But she's still lovely as ever." Francis side commented.<br>"BOO. I want to eat a burger now." Alfred pouted.  
>"We're going to grab our lunches now. But promise me, you guys won't make a racket out there, you hear me?"<p>

"Yes."  
>"Oui."<br>"Gotcha."

Aw. The three of them look so cute. I can't believe they submit to Elizaveta so easily. What an embarrassing scene for these men.

After a while, we arrived at the school cafeteria. But not on the usual cafeteria I usually go to, this was the European cafeteria. Yes. EUROPEAN.

Meaning, the food are from Europe and the students eating here are only from Europe (With an exception of an outsider student if he/she comes here with a European student.

My mouth dropped opened with the scenery unfolding right before my eyes.

"Yeah. I made that face too when I first came here." Alfred whispered to me.  
>I looked at Alfred and he did the same. Our eyes met; those big, rounded, cerulean blue eyes looked at my average brown ones. It made me flush a bit.<p>

I looked away abruptly even before he realizes I was blushing. Suddenly, reality came tumbling back to me.

"Wait. What do you mean by what you said?" I asked.

"Hm? Oh. I'm not from this class." he made a foolish smile.

"You're not from here? B-but then how..?"

"I'm part of the student council body, remember?" he grinned.  
>That made me flush even more! And this time, because of embarrassment! I can't believe I assumed he's from the European class! Well, I can't really tell since almost all of them has those blond hair. I also didn't realize he had a different design of uniform from Arthur and Francis. Geez. Well, whatever.<p>

"Well, what class are you from, then?" I asked.

"I'm from the North American class."

Oh. So that's that

"Hey, before the two of you melt while looking at each other like that, come over here and choose your lunch!" Arthur spat out and broke up the building friendly aura between me and Alfred.

"Yeah! Coming!" he answered back.  
>"So, let's go? Oh, yeah. Watch out for some annoying people. If you know what I mean." He held out to me his hand and me, in return, took a hold of it.<p>

I don't really get what he meant by that, by the looks of it, I'm kinda getting what he meant. People were still staring at me like I'm some kind of extinct creature or something. Some girls were also glaring daggers at my direction. I mean seriously, are European people really like this?

Finally, we reached the counter where Arthur, Elizaveta and Francis were. They were already ordering food.

A certain food caught my eye. It has yellow liquid on it and I believe that's what they call, _'FONDUE'._  
>"U-umm... How much for this one?" I politely asked.<br>"That's sold for €5.00." the lunch lady said.

That totally made my spirits go down. I only have Asian money... so even with dollars, it won't fit.

"Err... M-Maria.. I can lend you money, if you want." Elizaveta offered.  
>I just sighed. "Naah. Nevermind. But thanks for the offer though." I faintly smiled.<p>

_"ARRGGH! I really want to try eating Fondue. Since they say it's delicious!__ "_

We sat at the table; still, people kept looking at our direction. They weren't staring at the student council body, but rather at me.

"Maria, are you sure you want to skip lunch?" Elizaveta asked me as she sweat dropped.

"Hm? Oh, Yeah."

**RUMMBBLLEEE**

Everybody on our table stopped eating and stared at me. Gosh. That was embarrassing.

"Looks like you can't skip lunch. You're hungry, mon cherie." Francis stated the obvious.

"Have a bite on my burger then!" Alfred offered.

"You wanker! You already ate almost all of your burger. What's more there for her to eat?" Arthur pointed out.

"I-It's okay. Well, in any case, I guess I should go now, since my building is still 3 yards away, and I might run late again." I eyed Arthur who didn't seem to notice my point.

"Drop by the student council room after class." Arthur muttered while he was reading his book.

"Yeah, sure."

**PLEASE REVIEW! :D (No, it's not a ONESHOT. XD)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Maria's POV**

Class already ended and so it would also mean that hell is going to start for me. Being that British bastard's lackey isn't funny. It is NEVER a funny thing.

~•~•~•~•~•~•

**FLASHBACK:**

After I got from the European building, Mei and Lien came to me. (Well, Mei actually dragged Lien towards me… But you get the idea. ^_^")

"Why did the president called for you?" Mei excitedly asked.

"H-huh? W-well…"

"Come on! Tell us!"

I sighed. "I received my punishment. That's all, okay?" I explained.

Mei eyed me suspiciously. "Are you sure?"

I nodded in response. Then she just laughed.

"What's so funny?" I asked.

"Say, what punishment did he give you?" Lien was the one who asked now.

I hesitated at first, but then I thought, _"What's the point of hiding it…? I guess there's no harm for that matter, right?"_

"He made me his and the whole student council body's 'lackey'." I pouted.

Mei's laughter became hysterical. That made me mad. "What's SO FUNNY?" I asked, my voice now getting higher.

Lien just sighed. "Don't mind that nutshell. She's just probably losing her screws."

I laughed at Lien's statement. She did chuckle a bit, too.

Suddenly, Mei's laughter decreased and pouted at us. "Mou, what did Lien say?"

We kept laughing softly, while Mei kept sulking and sulking. So cute. "Tell me!" she demanded.

"It's a secret." Both Lien and I said at the same time. I bet Mei's fuming deep inside now.

I bade goodbye to Lien and Mei who headed first back to the dormitory. I walked the other direction, towards the European Class building.

Many students were already exiting the building; then again, just like what happened during lunch, they kept staring at me. I even caught a word of what they were saying.  
>"It's that girl again."<p>

What did they mean by that! If they'll just keep back stabbing me, isn't it better if they'll just tell what's on their mind to my face? It's really getting annoying.

"Ah! Maria, over here!" I heard Elizaveta shout from inside the building, causing more eyes to look at me.

I walked over to her and to my surprise, she's with a boy. He had glasses on and a mole near his mouth. He seems aristocratic, too.

"Hey. I want you to meet Roderich." She smiled sweetly.

"I'm Roderich Edelstein. Pleased to meet you." He stretched out his hand to me and I did the same.

"Maria Clara Carriedo Dela Cruz. Nice to meet you."

"Maria….?" He seemed confused.

Yeah. My name's THAT complicated. I know.

"You can just call me Maria." I flashed a smile.

"Ah. Alright." He smiled back.

"He's my childhood friend. We've been friends since like, forever!" she grinned.

"Ohh. Well, I hope we'll also be good friends, Mr. Roderich."

"Oh, don't call him that. It makes him sound like as if he's SOO OLD, although, he IS a year ahead of you." Elizaveta laughed. Roderich just sighed.

"Well, Kuya Roderich, then?"

They both gave me a puzzling look.

"Oh. _Kuya_in our country means, _'Big Brother'_But if you don't like being called that then…"

"No. It's okay."

I smiled. Although he does looks classy, he seems nice.

"Oh yeah, since I'm already done with my SCO duties, I'm off to the dorm now." Elizaveta notified.

"The same goes for Francis. He said he had to go somewhere. Tsk. I don't even wanna know." She raised a frying pan and made a scary face. Seriously, where did that frying pan come from?

"Err.. O-okay.." I stepped back a little sweat dropping.

"Alfred's not there yet. So Arthur's the one left behind. Anyways, see 'ya. I gotta go." She gave me a smile which seemed to have a hidden meaning to it as she dragged Roderich to the other direction I came from.

I wonder what her smile meant. Thinking about it, I just sighed. _It's probably just nothing._

~•~•~•~•~•~•

I went up the stairs and passed down the hallway where the SCO room stood. There were no people around anymore. Not a very busy hallway, now is it?

**BUMP!**

"Ow!" I screamed as I fell on my butt on the floor.

"S-Sorry! I really am!" a faint feminine voice came from the opposite direction as I was.

No, it was a boy. Around my age…. probably younger.

He held out to me his free hand, since his other hand was holding a stuffed bear.

"A-Are you okay?" he asked.

As he helped me stood up, I realized he was taller than me. And he had the same face as Alfred's! The only difference is, he has violet eyes! Deep violet-colored eyes. They were mesmerizing.

"Uhh.. Miss?..." he asked. That made me flinch. I didn't realize I was staring at him!

"S-Sorry! Umm. It's just that uhh… y-your eyes… they're… p-pretty." I was steaming up!

Suddenly, the door to the student council room opened up.

"Hey. What are you guys doing over there? Aren't you coming in?" Arthur popped out.

"Oh, afternoon, Arthur." The boy smiled.

Arthur stared at him for second. "If you're here, it only means that Alfred's not coming, right?"

The boy sweat dropped. "Err.. Yeah."

Arthur just sighed and scratched the back of his head. "Fine. Come in." The boy released my hand and came walking towards the door.

"Hey."

I looked where the voice was coming from. Oh, it was Arthur.

"What?"

"Are you coming in or what?"

I stuck out my tongue. "Yeah, coming, eyebrows." I chuckled.

He just glared at my direction. Oh, if he could only see his face, it was flushing up! Hahaha!

~•~•~•~•~•~•

It was already 5:30pm in the afternoon and I was still inside the student council room. The sun was already setting up, but Arthur strictly gave me orders not to go home until its 6pm and finish my 'duties'.

Well, that 'so-called' duties of his was just cleaning up the whole room, and making his 'perfect' tea! This bastard… I shot his direction a _'I'm gonna strangle him sooner or later…"_look and veins popped at my head.

But I can barely do anything about it. And that's the FRUSTRATING PART!

"Umm… M-Miss…?"

"WHAAT?"

The boy flinched. Oh gosh. Why'd I released my frustration to this cute boy? _'I'm so mean…'_

"I-I was just going to ask you if you're finished with your duties... So maybe, we can go home together... since it's getting dark..." he explained softly.

"Umm.. I still have things to do.. so I can't." I apologetically gave him a smile.

"Oh. Is that so? Well, Is it okay if I wait for you then?"

"I don't think that's necessary, Matthew." Arthur said while reading his book.

"Excuse me?"

"I mean, she won't be finished by then since she's working very slowly. She might just be a burden to you. You can go back to your dorm now, if you want to." he said, now looking at our direction.

WHAAA? What does he meant by _'working very slowly..?_I'm working my butt off here as fast as I can, but it doesn't seem like there's no end to this mess. And he's accusing me of being SLOW?

"O-okay then. Uhh.. By the way, I'm Matthew Williams." he smiled at me. Aw. He looks so cute~

"I'm Maria Clara Carriedo Dela Cruz. Maria for short." I shot him back a smile.

"Pleased to meet you, Maria. Well, I think I should be on my way now. See you."

I heard a big sigh. I looked behind me, and it was Arthur. Oh yeah. DUH. We're the only ones left here. Tsk.

"Make me some tea." he ordered.

I glared daggers at him, but he didn't seem bothered by it.

Since I'm his _'lackey'_I have no choice but to follow his demand. Annoying.  
>I went into the kitchen, (Yes, their student council room has a kitchen on it. O.O) and made his gawd damn tea.<p>

_"How do you make this stuff? I mean, you can make tea with just tea bags, right? Where are those freakin' tea bags?"_I thought to myself.

"Oh, there's cake here." I muttered. It was a light brown colored cake. It looks delicious. Although, I wonder what's it called. European cuisine has a lot of varieties of cakes as far as I know. Cakes originated from Europe, so that's why... is it?

**RUMMMBLEEEE**

Oh crap. Skipping lunch was a BAD IDEA. I swear, if anyone heard that loud grumble of my stomach, I'm going to dug up a hole and bury myself! That was downright embarrassing!

Then out of the blue, I heard a soft laugh.

I turned around to see who it was and found myself regretting facing the other direction.

"Hungry?" he said with a soft laugh.

I pouted. Of all the people, why was he the one stuck here with me! I felt like digging my own grave now. Oh, Please take me away!

"N-no I'm not! A-anyway, why are you HERE? Isn't the _'master'_supposed to be on his seat waiting for his _'tea'_to come?" I mocked, as I copied off his British accent.

He just shrugged. "Figured you don't know how to make tea."

This jerk! Of course I don't know anything about your stupid _tea making_-hobbies or any of that sort! I'm not British!

I glared at him even more. He just smirked.

"Since it's your first try, I'm here to assist you. But other than that, you're on your own. I don't want my tea tasting like garbage or any of the sort." he commented.

_"So you mean, my tea tastes like garbage? You haven't even tasted any tea that I might make! This Eyebrow bastard's really getting on my nerves."_I hypocritically thought while giving him a forced smile. "I-is that so...?"

"Now, let's get that over with so I can go back to my dorm." he went beside me and started preparing to boil some water. He took some leaves out form one compartment and placed them one by one on a plate. I just stared at him with awe.

Then he noticed me staring at him. "What?" he asked.  
>"N-nothing.." I turned my face away and stared back to the cake. Wait, why the cake?<p>

A few minutes passed and finally, he was done with boiling the water. He placed the leaves on a teapot and poured the hot water on it. _"Hmm. So that's how it's done..._I thought to myself.

After he poured hot water on the teapot, he sat down on a chair, grabbed a book and began reading.

_"So much for teaching me the steps.."_I sighed.

Minutes passed and he stood up again and went to the sink. He checked up on the teapot, he grabbed a teacup and poured the tea onto it. "Here's how you make tea. Do you get it now?" he turned to face me while holding up his teacup.

I just nodded in response. But seriously, he didn't actually _'assist'_me as how he put it earlier, but rather, it was more like.. _'watch me make tea and be astounded.. '_

"You can put milk and cream on it, but I prefer it more natural." he added, as he walked away with the tea and the cake, too.

He went back into the room and sat back down on his seat. _"Now what?"_I thought.

I looked at my watch, and surprisingly, it was already 6:00pm! I didn't even notice how dark it had been outside. I have to go back now, or else, I might not have any more spare time to review for our Chemistry test tomorrow!

I hurried back in to the room and confronted Arthur. "Hey, umm.. you see.. I have this test tomorrow... and-" before I was able to finish up my sentence, he beat me to it.

"..you need to go back now to study for it.. am I right?" he looked at me. Again, with those beautiful emerald eyes; meeting up with my average brown ones. It made me stiff a little.

"Y-Yeah..."

He sighed. "Fine. But you'll have twice the work starting tomorrow."

I just nodded. Twice the work as today? Is he freakin' serious?

I fixed up my things and headed out the door.

"Is he still going to stay there? It's getting late." I muttered to myself.

~•~•~•~•~•~•

"GOOSH! Am I hungry!" I exclaimed as I ate 2 seconds of rice and my favorite Filipino dish, adobo.

"Slow down, pig." Lei (Hong Kong) commented while he was eating his dumplings.

"SHUDDUP YO BUMPLENG BASHTARD!" I glared at him.

"Aren't you taught not to talk while your mouth is full, pighead?" he taunted.

"SHUDDUP DUMPLING HEADED FREAK!" I kicked his leg under the table.

"Ow! Damn it! What's up with you, pighead!" he shouted back.

"You wanna fight?"

"Hey! Both of you, just EAT, will you!" Yao shouted. Both of us immediately sat down and ate quietly. No one wants to see Yao mad. No ONE.

"Geez. You guys are always fighting ever since the both of you came here 2 weeks ago." Mei muttered.

Lien just sat there reading her book, while Kiku was playing with some cats whom he secretly adopted inside the dorm since pets are not allowed here.

Ahhh. Another typical night on the East Asia dorm.

"Oh yeah. About what you said about RAVEN earlier in geometry class, what was it about again?" I asked Mei.

She giggled. "I knew you would ask that." she leaned closer to me. "But let's talk about that one privately." she winked.

Oh gosh. What's she on about this time? I just sweat dropped.

~•~•~•~•~•~•

"Now, about RAVEN's concert..." with just hearing his name, both Mei and I just squealed.

"Quiet down, guys will you? I'm trying to study. And by the way, aren't you supposed to study, too?" Lien grunted.

"Ohh we can study later. Besides, this is even MORE important." Mei reassured Lien.

"Suit yourselves."

"So, about RAVEN-" **SQUEEEAAAAL**

"Just get on with it." Lien kicked the top bunker where Mei and I were sitting at.

"Anyways, like I said, he's going to have a concert in this town on Saturday night." she explained.

"AND...?"

"Guess what, I HAVE TICKETS!"

We SQUEALED together loudly. Lien just grunted.

"That's AWESOME! One problem though..." I trailed off.

"Huh? What? We've got tickets, right? What's the problem?" she quizzically asked.

"It's a lot more complicated than that."

"What? Spit it out."

"How are we going to attend the concert if were not allowed to leave the school premises?"


	3. Chapter 3

**Maria's POV**

"You're insane, Mei." I pointed out.

"It's the only way. Besides, were going there when class is over, meaning, at night." She calmly reassured me.

"If you want to see your beloved RAVEN, then you'll have to go with my plan, got it?"

I sighed. "Fine. But just be sure, we won't be in any trouble. I don't want to spend the rest of my high school years being that British bastard's slave!" I pointed out.

"Yes. Yes." She nonchalantly nodded at my request.

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

**FLASHBACK:**

"How are we going to attend the concert if were not allowed to leave the school premises?" I asked.

She sighed. "Oh yeah. Now that you mention it.. We're not allowed to leave the school premises unless we have permission from the head…"

She suddenly looked at me. "…Or the Student Council president." She grinned.

You have to be kidding me, right?

"What! No way!"

"But so far the two of you are close, right?"

"WHERE THE HELL DID YOU GET THAT IDEA?" I shouted.

Lien kicked the top bunk again. "Shut up!" she screamed.

"But Mari, we don't have any options left." She pouted.

"No way in hell. Let's brainstorm for more ideas, just NOT that one." I mumbled.

"Fine. Then, let's break out the school." She sighed then laid down on the bed.

"Break out the school? Are you nuts?"

"I'm serious. It's all or nothing, Mari-chan~ "

She is indeed nuts. "You're plan is that? You're making me laugh." Lien chuckled.

"Oh yeah, got any other plans, Einstein?" Mei mumbled as she shifted to the right.

"I don't want to get involve with any of that." She simply stated.

"Guess not. So no other choice, Mari-chan. Good night!"

"What? Wait!"

"Go to your own bed, Maria." Lien mumbled.

I sighed. "Fine."

"Now, let's get going before we get late." She patted my head.

It was already Saturday in the morning; meaning, our school break out will happen later on tonight. To be serious, I'm a bit nervous, since this might lead to my expulsion. Help.

Oh gosh. If it RAVEN was just some other guy, I wouldn't risk anything for him. But since I'm one of his loyal fans, I'm willing to cooperate with Mei's heinous idea.

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

**LUNCH**

"Hey, What's so special about this RAVEN guy anyway?" Lien asked.

"I'm glad you asked that, Lien!" Mei exclaimed. She was obviously more than happy to explain who RAVEN was.

"First of all, he's idolized for his handsomeness and his great singing skills! And with that, he's popular with all the girls all through out the school. I'm even surprised you don't know him." she explained.

"But Maria didn't know him until she gets influenced by your weirdness. And with that said, you're an obsessed fan-girl, Mei." Lien pointed out.

True. I didn't know anything about who RAVEN was back then, too. But with Mei's help, I became one of his die-hard fans. Now that makes me wonder, if he's going to have a concert here later on tonight, then the students here would probably want to attend that concert, too. Maybe were not the only ones.

"Hey. Are you going to attend RAVEN's concert tonight? I hear the venue's close here somewhere." I heard one girl giggle.

"Too bad were not permitted to go outside the school. This sucks."

"But if there was any other way, I'd like to try."

"True." The both of them, feeling defeated, just sighed.

I guess we're not really the only ones who would want to attend.

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

**STUDENT COUNCIL ROOM (3:45pm)**

I arrived at the student council room, only to find it empty.

"Where is everybody..?" I mumbled.

Curious, I scanned the whole room for any evidence or some interesting things I might find. With no luck, I sat down the couch and started listening to some music while I was waiting for someone from the student council body to pop out.

**4:10pm**

Still, no one came. _"What? So we don't have classes today?..."_I thought to myself. Feeling bored, I finally decided to leave, but before I can exit the room, an unexpected person came into view.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?" We both said at the same time.

It was Lei. _"I mean, what is he doing here? Unless..."_

"Were you also given the 'lackey' punishment?" I asked.

His face was already going red as a tomato! If only he wasn't always pissing me off, he would've been quite an adorable guy, I gotta be honest. Hahaha.

"S-so what? You yourself is also punished, aren't you?" he mumbled.

"Yeah. Yeah, Chinese boy. I'm also punished, but only because I was late. What about you, HUUH?" I leaned closer to him as I gave him a mocking smile.

"You think I'd misbehave, pig? No way in hell would that ever happen." he defended.

"Now if you can excuse me, I have to drop off this big box that I'm OBVIOUSLY carrying." he scoffed.

I stared at him suspicious. Well, he doesn't seem to be the type to misbehave... but still...

The utter silence that was slowly enveloping the aura between us was abruptly blown away when Arthur came into the room.

"Ah, Lei, so you're back. I think you're done for today."

"Okay then."

After Lei went out of the room, Arthur took his cellphone out and began dialing on the keypad.

"Hm? Why are you here?" he looked at me.

_"What does he meant by what I was doing here? I'm ordered to always help out on the student council room, right?_

"You didn't tell me not to come." I defended.

"Right... well, you can leave now." he coldly spat.

"I waited for them to come for almost half an hour and all I get is _"Right... well, you can leave now."_response?" I repeated his words on my head, imitating his thick British accent.

I glared at him. "FINE." I grabbed my nag and when straight to the door. But before I completely shut the door, Elizaveta came popping out of nowhere and she was carrying a huge box.

"AH! What are you doing here, Maria?" she asked. Even you, Ate Elizaveta? Oh, come on.

"It's part of my punishment to be always here, right?" I defended.

"R-Right.. Well, you seem to be on your way out now. Bye." she walked hastily towards the door. She was having a hard time opening the door since she was carrying a huge box.

So I opened the door for her. "Are you okay?" I asked, concerned.

"Yeah. I am. Thanks, by the way." she went inside the room and completely shut the door behind her, leaving me all alone on the hallway. It was suspicious, but I let it slide.

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

**5:30pm**

It was already getting dark. And I know too well what it meant.

"Okay! OPERATION SCHOOL BREAK OUT WILL NOW COMMENCE!" Mei exclaimed.

_"She's pretty lively, huh._I thought to myself.

"By the way, where are we going to break out?" I asked.

"I'm glad you asked!" she cheered.

"We'll be going over the school's wall." she simply stated.

"WHAAT? But isn't that more risky?" I complained.

"Well there's no other choice, really." she pouted. I just face palmed.

"I guess I shouldn't wear a skirt..." Lien thought deeply. Wait. What! Lien's coming with us, too?

I looked at her dumbfounded. It's not like Lien at all. Usually, she would normally just sit somewhere quiet and read a book during Saturday nights. What did Mei do to her?

"S-Stop staring at me, Maria. Mei made me go, okay!" she defended.

"Technically." Mei countered.

I just sighed. These guys... they're really... Oh, never mind.

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

Finally, we were in front of a huge brick wall with vines all over it. It was really old-looking. And the only difference is, it doesn't have the metallic spikes almost all of the walls all over school had.

Also, good thing that there were many trees over the wall so that way, we can be hidden to oncoming passerby.

"Okay, Lien, you go first." Mei ordered.

"Hey, hold tight, okay? I might fall down." she notified.

"Yes. Yes." Mei reassured her.

When Lien finally got above the humongous wall, it was Mei's turn to go.

I was pushing her up the wall. With almost all of my might. "What did you eat for dinner, Mei? You're pretty heavy!" I grunted.

"I-I'm not heavy! Waaah- Almost there!" She was finally able to go above the brick wall.

"Ow. That kinda hurt. You could have pushed a little gentler, you know!"

"I would have, but since you're heavy, I can't!" I protested.

"Whatever, now give me your hand." She reached down for her hand and I grabbed it.

"One, two, THREE!" They both pulled me up and good thing I was petite and ate little dinner so they were able to pull me up.

All of us jumped down from the wall and fixed ourselves up.

"Okay, we'll be back before 9:00pm." Mei stated.

Lien and I just nodded.

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

We finally reached our destination; The stadium where RAVEN will perform tonight. Not surprisingly, the whole stadium is filled with people. Most of them are female.

"Let's go and find a place to seat. Ah, Maria, can you buy some drinks?"

"I want Coke." Mei ordered.

"Same here." Lien added.

"Huh? Okay then. I'll be right back."

It was 5 minutes before the concert starts, and I still can't find any shop. _"Great. So I'm going to miss half of the show for just a drink. How nice."_I mocked.

Finally, I was able to find a vending machine that sells cans of drinks near the backstage. I was near the backstage, and was tempted to take a peek inside, but knowing there were security guards everywhere, I let that idea slipped off my mind. _ "There is no way I'll be able to pass those humongous security guards..._I thought to myself.

_"They want coke.. maybe I'll get Iced Coffee..."_

Then suddenly, I heard a voice coming towards my direction. I turned to my right to see who it might be, and it made me stood up immediately.

This... that.. It was RAVEN!

"Y-You're...!" I was stuttering. Already lost for words.

"Aren't you going to pick that up?"

Huh? He pointed down to the ground, he was pointing at the can of iced coffee that fell to the ground.

"Ah- Y-yeah... Umm.." I nervously picked up the can of iced coffee. I seriously never saw this one coming! Well, now that you mention it, I was pretty near the backstage, but I didn't consider the fact that he might be walking here or whatever!

"Ah! RAVEN! Come here, the concert's going to start anytime soon!"

He nodded in response. Before he walked towards the backstage, he took a quick glance on my direction and gave me a look I knew I would never forget.

I just stood there, star-struck, and when the loud music started playing, that made me go back to reality.

"OMG. Did I just meet RAVEN in person?" I exclaimed.

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

**MONDAY MORNING**

"I still can't believe you met him. I should have been the one who bought the drinks." Mei pouted for the 17th time that morning.

"Sheesh. Let it go, will you?" I sighed.

"Oh yeah, describe to me what you saw. EVERYTHING!" she demanded.

I sweat dropped. "Y-you serious?"

"HELL YEAH!" she exclaimed. She was on high spirits today and I can tell she's really excited to know what else happened; which I kept denying since nothing any more than that happened. That was all. REALLY.

"Well... if what you meant by _what I saw.._then it would probably be all about RAVEN." I mumbled.

"Yeah. ANYTHING! C'mon!"

"Actually, the very thing that only caught my eye back then was his eyes. They were emerald-colored." I explained as the memories came flashing back at me.

"But I thought it was just green?" Mei moped.

"No. They were more emerald-colored. It was still shining even without any light passing through them." I corrected.

"Mou, you could have taken a photo of his eyes and we could sell it on eBay!"

"As if I had my camera back then." I shot back.

"Enough with that RAVEN thing already, would you?" Lien interrupted, obviously irritated since she was studying for an upcoming test the next period.

"Yes." both of us said at the same time.

But my mind keeps rewinding the same event that happened back at the stadium, as if it was already recorded on my brain.

RAVEN, meeting him face to face right there and there was like a dream come true; but still, I can't shake off this feeling inside me that he's someone I know.

Someone I know, as in someone I've already encountered with. His eyes were vaguely familiar and so was the way he looks at you...

it's as if he's...


End file.
